How do you not become destracted while playing?

I was up late last night until about two o'clock so I may have been a little worn out. Well, I had a bass lesson today and I've been going over this shuffle assignment that my teacher gave me this whole week. I became so familiar with it that I could play it to a metronome and knew all the notes in my head. So once we went over it, I totally blanked. I couldn't keep time, I kept forgetting what the next bar was. Does anyone else get this at all, or perhaps I just had one of those days? I was also thinking it was that the teacher was using "his" metronome. But even then, that was after I was having trouble keeping time in my mind. It was like an overload and was the first time anything like this has happend Maybe I was just tired, but it was really annoying. I feel underrated as a bassist or someothing. I donno...

That happens to me lots of times. I'll play something perfectly at home and then get to my lesson and blank out. I think sometimes, at least for me, it's nerves. I tend to get nervous, which is something I have to work on. Then there's getting "in the zone". This helps me to avoid distractions. That "place" where nothing exists but me and my bass.

At the last outdoor gig we did, in the middle of a song, I just happened to look to the left of the stage, and these 2 HOT chix were sitting on a blanket kissing!! I hit a clam the very next bar. I struggled not to look over there again!

Originally posted by Woodchuck At the last outdoor gig we did, in the middle of a song, I just happened to look to the left of the stage, and these 2 HOT chix were sitting on a blanket kissing!! I hit a clam the very next bar. I struggled not to look over there again!

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I'm probably about to reveal something that may alienate me from the rest of the male TB community, but why? I don't see two women engaging in sexual activity as very appealing, just as I don't see two men doing it as appealing. I see it as a statement of sexuality, not two hot lesbians doing it for the guys. That's just a porn movie mentality. The truth is, any lesbian who caught a guy looking would kick their ass

My bass teacher probably thinks a lot worse than I actually am. We play together, and he gives me a lot of guidance and information to use toward my personal practice time. I practice, go home, go over it. But, there's something in my head about when I'm being watched by someone. If it's a performance, it's no big deal, because the guests are there to enjoy music, and I'm confident. But, when my teacher, is just staring at me, listening, one on one, no distractions, I'm not as confident. Personally, confidence is one of the most important aspects of my playing. When I lose it, I won't take a chance on what I'm hearing in my head. I'll play it safe, I won't try anything new.

Originally posted by PanteraFan I don't see two women engaging in sexual activity as very appealing,...

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I'm with you.
...then again, I sometimes play with my eyes closed so I woulda probably missed what Woodchucker saw.

Which reminds me-
Way back, I'm playing in an '80s Top-40 band, I'm groovin' some schmaltzy bassline WITH my eyes closed & the hot chickie singer in the band comes up & sticks her hand in my left-front pocket.
I fixed her...after that, I cut a hole in that pocket & went sans briefs.
(We did start dating after that, though...).

I always suck 10 times worse than I already suck when I play for my teacher. I'll be at home, and I'll be able to play the pieces forwards and backwards at 210bpm. Then I get to my lesson, and it'll take three tries to get thru it without fretbuzz etc. etc. My teach says that's the way it is, but it does bug me.

Another thing is that I usually practice while standing at home, and seated during lessons. I don't know why, but I find it 10 times harder to play while sitting. Just can't seem to find the right position when I'm sitting.

I don't consider myself a homophobe, but I don't care for same sex partnerships, so the two women kissing would've been disturbing to me. I can be quite distracted by a pretty girl dancing and totally blow a song though when my mind wanders. I have no solution to this problem.

I have to be distracted from playing in a sense in order to play well. I find if I am %100 focused on my playing I end up forgetting what notes come next and so on. That is when I draw a blank. I like to look out to the audience and just let everything else flow. This usually works best for me, maybe it is something to do with being more relaxed and not as pressured.

I really had a problem with this with my first teacher. That the guy was a big bag of ass didn't help, I'm sure.

With my current teacher, it's a lot better and while I'm still nervous to play in front of him, I'm getting over it. A breakthrough came one day when I was trying to play a song that I'd been working on and I totally bungled it. I let fly the F word and he started cracking up and told me to lighten up a little. Being self-critical is a good and necessary thing, but being overly self-critical can end your playing.

If you can see your teacher as a human being and not as The Teacher, that might help.

this reminds me of a time when i was playing in a gb band and became very distracted by a fishing show on tv over the bar. "wow look at that fish!" oops. i guess that shows my level of enthusiasm for gb bands.

Originally posted by Woodchuck At the last outdoor gig we did, in the middle of a song, I just happened to look to the left of the stage, and these 2 HOT chix were sitting on a blanket kissing!! I hit a clam the very next bar. I struggled not to look over there again!

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You think that's distracting? I went to a show the other night, and there was this chick in the audience with a very short minidress and no panties! When she danced, you could see what she had pierced. The guitarist and bassist for the band had a few fumbles, to say the least!